Stamped brass core?

[AUSGANG]

I thought that the brass cores were early war and the stamped metal cores late war... so what gives with this one? I don't doubt its originality, but is the stamped brass core an anomaly?...

[ben bijker]

Officially you are correct, but brass cores were used during the entire war.
L/19 : never seen one with an iron core
Apart from that I have (or have seen) L/12, L/16 and l/58 crosses with a brass core.
This is a W&L, they used brass cores in the latter years as well

best regards,
Ben

[dmytro]

I also own a W & L brass core EK1, they are not that difficult to find

[Robert P.]

I've looked and looked at this cross over the last few days and still come back to the same question. One can see that the core (the swastika in particular) was hollow, not solid. It was stamped hollow. At least it looks that way to me. My question is - were some cores solid by some makers while others were 'hollow' stamped? Am I asking that right? Was the swastika and date(s) solid on some maker's cores?

Robert

[ben bijker]

I think Anthony has a partially de-nazzed early Deschler in his collecting.
That cross has a brass core, and the swas appears to be solid

[Sonderkommando]

*

This cross has a stamped core for sure, and I think it is more than likely a brass/copper coated steel stamped core and not stamped from solid brass.
L/11 are a good example of the stamped cores, hence why some feel super light weight.
But stamped solid brass? Not sure....


Brett

[Robert P.]

I think Anthony has a partially de-nazzed early Deschler in his collecting.
That cross has a brass core, and the swas appears to be solid

Thanks Ben,

As always I appreciate your input.

Robert

[ben bijker]

You're welcome , Robert.

That is the only ek I remember with a solid brass core.
I don't see a lot of crosses that have been opened, so I don't know if the early Deschler is an exception.

Best regards,

Ben

[AUSGANG]

I guess the only way to tell if an untouched (that is, NOT denazified) EK1 has a solid or stamped core is by weight. Thanks for all the input!

[Douglas 5]

Interesting W&K EK1 you have there Ausgang . As Ben mentioned brass cores were used through the war and mid to late made crosses supposed to be LDO pieces only . At the start many used non-iron cores like W&L did . Before the 'L/' marking was mandatory there was no way to determine if a cross was issued or bought ??
Looking at yours I see a first type core which would indicate an early cross . The hollow core would mean it was a core for the EK1 only . W&L produced a few different non-magnetic core combinations . ... like solid copper Ni plated and painted ... brass plated and painted and plain brass painted . Plated brass and only painted brass cores exist with the 1st and 2nd core dies and 1st and 2nd frame dies . The use of brass cores had stretch over years to create this many variations .

Regardless of the combination I was wondering what frame type that one has and if the frame has any traces of lacquer on it ? Types shown below .

Douglas

[Douglas 5]

Don't know if weight would be that accurate as stamping sheets became thinner to save on materials . I can not see the weight difference to be that noticeable to make that destinction ?

Douglas

[AUSGANG]

My apologies, I was just vetting the cross before I obtained it and since I have a brass 100 already, I passed on it. Just for grins, here is the brass core in my collection...